Call Opens November 15

Thematic Guidance

Beyond the Horizon invites artist to explore the natural intersection of Western art and the missions of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and its Art Institute: inspiring people to live in harmony with the natural world through love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert, and advancing Conservation through Art Education.

The title asks artists to look beyond the familiar view, to see past the horizon line, the iconic subject, or the individual species and consider the larger relationships that sustain life. Art supports conservation by encouraging close observation, deepening understanding, helping viewers recognize the value of living systems, and inspiring attitudes of stewardship.

Artists are invited to consider the West as an interconnected ecosystem, including relationships among species, habitats, water, plants, pollinators, keystone species, predators and prey, and the many forms of adaptation and interdependence that shape the natural world.

About the Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum and

Art Institute located just west of Tucson, Arizona.

The mission of the ASDM is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation

and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. 

The Art Institute promotes conservation of the Sonoran Desert region through

art classes, rotating art exhibits in our premier galleries and stewardship of the Museum art collection for the area

residents and visitors from around the globe.

We encouraged submissions interpreting themes related to our organization’s mission and the exhibition title.

(Photo by Phyllis Burchett)